The newly appointed Head Coach and the former Team Director of the India team, Ravi Shastri, in a recent interview, went ahead and affirmed that doors are still open for two of the most experienced southpaws of Indian Cricket by the names of Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina.

The last time Suresh Raina featured in the ODI lineup was against South Africa back in 2015. He was then selected only for T20 assignments for India. The last T20I in which he represented the country was against England earlier this year. Since then, he has struggled to make the cut Indian team.

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Yuvraj Singh, on the other hand, made a brilliant comeback into the Indian team earlier this year in the ODIs against England by scoring 150+ in the Cuttack game. He also scored a rapid half century against Pakistan in the group game of the Champions Trophy before getting injured during the West Indian tour.

Both Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh failed in the ‘Yo-Yo’ Test ahead of the Sri Lankan series in NCA Bengaluru. It is learnt that the average score of the Indian team is above 19.5, headed by the likes of Manish Pandey and Virat Kohli who consistently hit 21. Both Yuvraj and Raina have scored well below the acceptable level.

Inclusion of Yuvi and Raina depends on the fulfilment of criterion

“Any player is eligible for selection if they perform well on the following parameters – fitness, current form and fielding. Fielding is very important if you want to win consistently,” claimed India’s Head Coach, Ravi Shastri according to his interview with India TV.

“I am not involved in selection. The door is not closed on Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina. Any player who performs well on these parameters is eligible for selection,” added Shastri. He looked at the upcoming Australian series as an opportunity to try out few other personnel, aiming for the World Cup of 2019.

“Keeping in mind the 2019 ODI World Cup, we wanted every player to get a chance to play in Sri Lanka and we ensured it. The bilateral series against Australia will again be a good opportunity to identify the players who will form the nucleus/core team for the world cup,” concluded the 55-year-old.